Mobilis + Unireso for commute

Ckowheero25

Hey! I’m a student in Geneva and have found out that as of 2025 students in Geneva under 25 get free transport and I should be eligible as I’m 23.

I live in Aubonne, VD, which is zone 28 in mobilis. I was wondering if I could get a mobilis 8 zone subscription (I think there’s 8 zones until zone 22, which is before Geneva).

Could I just buy an 8 zone mobilis subscription for the semester and be able to travel between Aubonne and Geneva?

Thank you!

Danhiel

Hello Ckowheero25

You can find informations here:

https://www.unireso.com/prise-en-charge-6-24-ans/

Kind Regards
Danhiel

RolandP

Hello Ckowheero25

Our dear collegue @Danhiel was totally right. You need a ticket from the last stop in the Mobilis tarif network to the first stop in the Unireso fare network. And this, if you travel using regional trains that do stop at these two places.

If you take the IR, you have to get a ticket from Nyon to Geneva and v.v., provided the train stops at these places.

See paragraph 2.5.2:
Les titres de transport communautaires sont valables jusqu’au dernier point d’arrêt ou dès
le premier point d’arrêt conformément à l’horaire, situé dans les zones de la CTV
mentionnées sur le titre de transport.

https://www.mobilis-vaud.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/T651.22_15.12.2024.pdf

And please, don’t elaborate the mindset that everything has to be free of charge; you won’t be working without a salary in future, do you? Everything has a value, even the public transit; currently, it is now paid by others for you.

Kind regards,
Roland

Ckowheero25

Danhiel Don’t think the answer to my question is there unfortunately. I need to know if by having a Mobilis subscription + free unireso travel if I can travel between both zones without having to pay for a ticket between them

Danhiel

Ckowheero25

I think that you will need an “abonnement modulable” that includes the Mobilis and the Unireso zones. You will get a discount of 400 CHF for this subscription. This is a special case, read the instructions and ask a ticket office if something is not clear.

Ckowheero25

Danhiel but isn’t that redundant if I already have a (free) unireso subscription and a all zones mobilis subscription? I’ll have both Zone 10 in Geneva and Zone 22 (Founex), so I should be able to travel between them no problem, right?

Danhiel

Ckowheero25

Sorry, I cannot answer this question, I have not enough knowledge about this situation. Perhaps someone else can help you.

Ckowheero25

Danhiel No worries. Thank you for your help anyways. I believe I don’t need an abonnement modulables however. Hopefully someone from SBB can come and answer definitively.

Ckowheero25

RolandP in that case if I have a valid unireso subscription + a valid mobilis subscription I can travel from, say, Coppet to Cornavin in RE33 without any further fees?

RolandP

Hello Ckowheero25

No.

You need a ticket from Coppet to Geneva, or a point-to-point travel card from Coppet to Geneva. Coppet is the RE33’s last stop in the Mobilis network and Geneva is the RE33’s first stop in the Unireso network.

Again, you cannot combine tariff network tickets from two different tariff networks, even not if they share the same boundary. As soon as you cross the tariff network boundary (Unireso / Mobilis), you must get a ticket from the national ticket offers. And this, from the train’s last stop within the current tariff network to the train’s first stop in the neighbouring tariff network.

It is all explained here:
https://www.mobilis-vaud.ch/en/faq-items/travelling-in-and-out-of-the-mobilis-network/

Kind regards,
Roland

Ckowheero25

RolandP Hi Roland, that makes sense.
So I would have to have my mobilis ticket + a point to point from Coppet to Geneva? This would seem to be the cheapest option for unlimited travel within Vaud and being able to go to Geneva.

If I understand this correctly, then the “free” unireso ticket for students would not serve me at all? Since I would be paying from Coppet to Geneva anyways?

Excuse all the questions, this is all very confusing.

Best

Danhiel

Ckowheero25

I already explained in a previous post that you can buy an « abonnement modulable » for Unireso and Mobilis zones and obtain a discount of 400 CHF:

La réduction de CHF 400.- pour les jeunes remplissant les conditions requises et de CHF 200.- pour les bénéficiaires de l’AVS/AI pourra s’appliquer sur les abonnements suivants :
les abonnements annuels unireso zone 10 ;
les abonnements Léman Pass annuels multizones incluant la zone 10 ;
les abonnements Léman Pass annuels parcours + zone 10 ;
les abonnements modulables parcours + zone 10 ;

You can find informations here:

https://www.tpg.ch/fr/acheter/nos-offres-et-bons-plans/abonnements-jeunes-et-avsai-des-2025

Ckowheero25

Danhiel Hi Danhiel, I got that. It seems to be on an annual basis, however I’ll only be commuting for three months.

What would you recommend as the cheapest possible option?

Danhiel

Ckowheero25

You could buy this Modular Travelcard for 3 months, but without any discount in Geneva.

https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/travelcards/modular-travelcards.html

Ckowheero25

Thank you!
Are you able to see what the price of it would be? It seems you can only buy it in person or through a phone call, and the website doesn’t show the priced as far as I can tell.

Danhiel

Ckowheero25

No, I cannot see the price. I think that the price is not the same if this travelcard is valid only to Genève Cornavin or if you add the trams and buses in Geneva.

You can also find prices here, but these travelcards don’t include any zones, only point-to-point travels:

https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/travelcards/point-to-point-regional-travelcard/point-to-point-season-tickets.html

Ckowheero25

Danhiel thank you once again. Could it be that the modular ticket is the cost of mobilis subscription + point to point from last stop in mobilis to first stop in unireso? In this case it would be Coppet to Cornavin.

In that case, as far as I can tell the GA travel card would be my cheapest option, and I wouldn’t be getting the benefits of the offered free transport for students in unireso.

Do you know if there are plans to connect the fare systems of mobilis and unireso? It seems a bit ridiculous that there’s an added border tax on transport tickets between Coppet and Geneva despite their proximity…

Thank you once again for your help!

Danhiel

Ckowheero25

Sorry, I have no idea how prices of Modular Travelcards are calculated. You should call the SBB or ask at a ticket office.

In other communities, you may have common small zones at the borders, sometimes valid only for travelcards but not for tickets. I think that the problem is that Unireso has only one big zone covering the whole canton, it were not profitable (for the transporters, not for the customers) to add only one “Mobilis” zone and travel everywhere in Geneva.